Ukrainians are experiencing a surge in bookings for vacations in the Carpathian region over the New Year holidays. A small number of people still choose to spend the holidays abroad. This was reported to UNN by Volodymyr Tsaruk, director of the Tourism Development Center, and Oleg Kulyk, CEO of a travel agency network.
Details
Tsaruk reminded that Christmas is on December 25, so the surge in activity in bookings for 7-10 days for the New Year holidays is quite good in the Carpathian region.
"Because if before the war, many people used to go abroad for these dates, now they plan to go at least for 4-5 days, change the picture, and choose the Carpathian region, Transcarpathia. Therefore, where there is skiing, the possibility of excursions, we see that there is good occupancy. There is also activity in resorts with mineral water or thermal springs," said Tsaruk.
He noted that people want to change the picture, so there is demand and bookings.
"Everyone writes about the surge in prices in Bukovel, but we can say that there are prices of different plans. There are very high prices, if we take Bukovel, but there are also quite moderate prices, for example, 2-3 thousand UAH for a cottage for 5-6 people on high dates, and on low dates it is even lower," Tsaruk said.
READ ALSO: New Year's table will cost Ukrainians more than 2.8 thousand hryvnias
According to him, Chernivtsi, Lutsk, Uzhhorod, Ivano-Frankivsk are also among the popular destinations.
In addition, the general director of a travel agency network, Oleh Kulyk, said that a certain number of Ukrainian tourists travel abroad for the New Year holidays, but it is very small compared to the summer.
"The number of Ukrainian tourists who are now planning a vacation abroad has decreased at least three times, because there are such things as high and low season. Now it is low. There is a small surge on New Year's Eve, as always, but still, the number of Ukrainians vacationing abroad, even on New Year's Eve, is significantly less than the number of Ukrainians vacationing abroad in the summer. That is, I can say that there is a threefold drop," Kulyk said.
According to him, the main reasons are the situation in the country, the war, and men not being allowed to go abroad.
Kulyk noted that those Ukrainians who do leave, usually choose Egypt.
"Ukrainians usually go to Egypt for the New Year holidays - it is the number one destination among Ukrainian vacationers. There is a certain category of tourists who choose bus tours in Europe. Of course, there are much more bus tours in the summer, but now among the bus tours that are in demand are primarily European countries, where people can visit several countries in one trip," Kulik said.
He noted that vacations in Egypt have not risen in price, they are cheaper now than last year because demand has decreased due to the situation with Israel and the Gaza Strip.
"Hotels are not fully booked, and the lower the demand, the cheaper the prices," Kulik added.